Package and method of wrapping and banding



April 8, 1941. J. A. NEUMAIR PACKAGE AND METHOD OF WRAPPING AND BANDINGOriginal Filed Aug. 22, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet l 3 Inventor attorney April1941- J. A. NEUMAIR. 2.237.911

PACKAGE AND METHOD OF WRAPPING AND BANDING Original Filed Aug. 22 1932 3Sheets-Sheet 2 F1H;ll. E

attorney 3nventor April 1941- J. A. NEUMAIR 2.237.911

PACKAGE AND METHOD OE WRAPPING AND SANDING Original Filed Aug. 22, 1932s Sheets-Sheet a ISnnentor WWW Gttorncg Patented Apr. 8, 1941 PACKAGEAND METHOD OF AND BANDING Joseph A. Neumair, Hollis, N. Y., assignor toInt ernational Cigar Machinery Company, a corporation of New JerseyOriginal application August 22, 1932, Serial No. 629,959.. Divided andthis application April 15,

1937, Serial No. 137,039

6 Claims; (Cl; 93-2) This invention relates to an improved package andmethod of packaging, and constitutes a division of my co-pendingapplication S. N. 629,959, filed August 22, 1932, issued April 20, 1937,as Patent No. 2,077,431, covering wrapping machines,

particularly machines operating on cigars orother articles and capableof handling flexible wrapping materials such ior example as the thintransparent cellulosic material known by the trade name of Cellophane.

An important object of the invention is to produce a cigar package usingthe above mentioned material wherein the package is sealed throughoutwithout the use of heat. Another Object of the invention is to provide amethod and artlcle employing a plicated or bellows type end fold and alongitudinal lock seam. To this end, it is also an object to retain theend folds in position by mechanical crimping not requiring heat, and ofa type which is particularly efficient in overcoming the naturalresilience of the above mentioned materials.

With'these and other objects not specifically mentioned in view, theinvention consists in a certain method and packages which will behereinafter fully described andlthen specifically set iorth in theclaims hereunto appended.

in the accompanying drawings, which form a acters of reference indicatethe same or like parts, Figs. 1-7 inclusive show the sequence ofapplicable to'a wide variety of articles other thanv i part of thisspecification and in which like char- The'method employed in carryingthe intend transversely of the fold line.

The package employed in carrying the invencrimping the material on thefold line with corrugated crimps, the corrugations of which extion intoefiect comprises a tube surrounding the article to be packaged andhaving a longitudinal lock seam, the tube having its ends plicated,flattened and turned back on the end of the cigar,

the portions of the tube end adjacent thehinge line formed by turningback the ends, having a corrugated crimp to retain the material inposi-. tion, thereby producing a sealed package without employing eitherheat sealing or gluing.

While the invention will be referred to and disclosed in' connectionwith cigars, it should be thoroughlyunderstood that the invention iscigars, particularly those of, an elongated round or polygonal shape orof stick shape. It will be noted that owing to the fact that one phaseof the invention is to dispense with heat for closing or sealingwrapping material with which heat has hitherto been used, the machine isparticularly useful with an article liable to injury from heat, of whichcigars, chocolate coated articles and silk or silk covered articles arecited by way of example.

A pair of conveyor chains I32 running over sprockets (not shown) haveattached at spaced intervals, yokes 2ll carrying pins M2 on which arepivoted fingers H3 and 2 connected by springs (not, shown) whereby theyare held against the sides of the inserted cigars. The cigars, or likearticles, are designated generally by the reference character C. TheU-shaped' fingers -2l3 have furcations 2| 1 (engaging with the member393), and the other furcations of the fingers have gear segments 2l8meshing withgear segments 2i9 of the U-shaped fingers 2H.

When the cigars are insertedin the pockets formed by the fingers H3 and.2, they are intermittently carried away to a handling unit (not shown)wherein they are banded.

It will be noted that the gripper fingers 2l32|4 acting onlibne cigarconsist of two co acting sets or pairs of opposed'grippers on the chains132; the two sets being spaced lengthwise the bands inside or outsidethe wrapper by mechanism which neednot be shown.

As soon as the chain I32 stops its movement the bell crank levers 393are actuated in such a way that the upper free parts press against .the

extending ends ill of the U-shaped gripper fingers M8. the gear segmentsN8 of which are in engagement with gear segments 2 l 9 thereby openingthe grippers. In the meantime, shaft 4M has come up and met with itslifter plate 404, the cigar C. The clamping fingers 398 have also movedupward and are caused to close and clamp the cigar ,C which then istransferred into the pockets of the wrapper chain (Figs. 1-4).

It will be noted from the above and Figs. 1 to '7 that during thistransfer there is at all times a positive grip on the cigar. Even at themoment when the wrapper pocket walls 429 open to receive and transferfingers 388 open to release the cigar, said cigar is securely grippedfrom above and below by plunger 404 and tension plate 436.

As the cigar C reaches the wrapper blank A,

positioned across the path of the ascending ci- 429 which fold theCellophane" smoothly over the sides of the cigar at station I of thewrapper chain. The cigar C is taken by the wrapper chain to anintermediate idler station and then to a third station where the bottomor longitudinal lock seam is made by a lock seam fold mechanism (Figs.8-13).

As the cigar arrives at'the intermediate station, the cigar has partlymoved over folding plate 5" (Fig. 9) then by a swing of lever 585 thefolding plate 590 tucks the hanging edges of the blank A into the grooveof folding plate 59! (Fig. 10) and then retreats again (Fig. 11).thereby forming from the blank A, an envelope or tubular wrapping E, theends of which pro- Ject beyond the ends of the cigar. Then folding plateEli makes one half of a revolution causing the lock seani to project inthe opposite direction and interlocking the tucked ends.

The clamping pocket walls or plates 42!! then take the cigar to stationIV (Fig. 13). In order to prevent the lock seam from opening and tocover the gap between a stationary supporting plate 598, the bridge 5swings in this space. As the cigar is pushed upon the same, the lockseam of envelope E is ironed smooth. For this purpose the bridge extendssubstantially the entire distance between plates, 68! and 583. when thecigar reaches supporting plate 583, bridge "4 will swing backward andfolding plate 59f returns to its original position. Plate593 holds thelock seam while the cigar is at the following stations IV, V and VI,where the end folds of the envelope E are made.

As envelope E is now a tube open and projecting beyond the cigar at bothends, end folding mechanisms are provided to fold these projecting endportions.

The entire end fold mechanism consists of a bellows folding or tuckingand flattening mechanism at station IV, (Figs. 14-19) a guiding or foldretaining mechanism (Figs. -22) between station IV and station V, acreasing mechanism (Figs. 23-25) at station V, and a crimping mechanism(Figs. 26-28) for crinkling or corrugating the creased end, op rating atstation VI.

The bellows folding mechanism at station IV, consists of a pair ofnarrow tuck fingers 604 and a pair of wide folding and flatteningfingers 606.

The folding operations (Figs. 14 to 19) are performed in such a mannerthat tuck fingers 604 and "I are opened and moved forward to the cigar Cin an ariial direction over and clearing the ends of envelope E (Figs.14 and 15). Then fingers 804 and 605 close in on the envelope end untilthey exert light spring pressure on the elgar at the base of the taper.The fingers then move backward again (Figs. 16 and 17). The narrow tuckfingers 604 tuck and iron in the sides'oi the envelope E (Fig. 17),while the wide folding fingers 605, trailing the tuck fingers a little,flatten or press together top and bottom folds of the envelope. Bothsets of fingers ride on the cigar under light spring pressure.

In order to hold the and fold until it reaches station V, a pair ofswingabie guide fingers 62! come down on the fold (Fig. 19) and preventthe same from opening up again, which is, because of the resilientnature of the wrapping material, likely to occur. On its way to stationV, where the end told is to be creased, thefolded end passes furthermorethrough a pair of stationary guide fingers 630 (Figs. 20 to 22), so thatthe fold is guarded and held until it reaches the creasing mechanism atstation V. It will be seen that the bellows fold is positively held listby the several guiding, creasing and crimping mechanisms until finallycrimped.

The creasing mechanism (Figs. 23-25), consists of a pair of creaser dies6 H mounted on a pair of supporting lugs 642.

As soon as the folded ends of the enveloped cigar arrive between theopen creaser dies I4| (Fig. 23), the latter close and crease the foldedends of the envelope together (Fig. 24) along a transverse crease orfold line. Then the creaser dies 8 open again and folding finger 854,which is actuated by a link 655, swings forward to fold the overhangingend of the creased fold smoothly back on the lower part of the envelopeE (Fig. 25). The folding finger 654 remains in this po sition, acting asa guide while the enveloped cigar is moved towards station VI, by thewrapper chain. As soon as the enveloped cigar reaches guide plate 66! ofthe crimper for holding the doubled back portion in position (Fig. 26),folding finger i returns to its original position.

The crimping mechanism (Figs. 26-28), consists of a pair of corrugatedor crinkly surfaced crimper jaws 662 mounted on a pair of clamping lugs663 which are pivoted to stud 664, held by supporting head 665 attachedto a yieldingly mounted stud (not shown). Lugs 863 are equipped withlevers 661 which are pivoted by means of links 668 to a double crank 669mounted on shaft 612 which is supported by head piece 665. The doublecrank-and links serve to form a double. tog le for providingconsiderable pressure from opposite directions. Guide plate I is mountedstationarily to pivots 864 on head 'piece 865.

The corrugations of the jaws 662 are of V cross section. This crimp,particularly across a crease is effective in locking the fold and inovercoming the resilience of the material. at the extreme tip and where,with an accordion pleat, the crimp joins the taper of the package end.

In order to prevent breakage of parts or excess pressure on the wrapper,the head 66 is supported by a yielding horizontal stud, as previouslynoted. Parallel to, this stud is mounted a safety stud 680. When crimperjaws 662, which are actuated from double crank 668 close to is designedto operate.

taken to station VII (Fig. where it is trans-' ferred from the pocketsof the wrapper chain into the grippers of a conveyor chain I. Thistransfer mechanism is of the same type and construction as the onedescribed and used for transferring the cigar C from the bander chainI32 into /the pockets of the wrapper chain.

When the enveloped cigar C arrives at station VII, Fig. 5, the clampinglugs 429'are opened. In the meantime the lifter plate 404 has come up tomeet the enveloped cigar (Fig. 5). At the same time, clamping fingers.398 are in open position directly underneath the open clamping lugs 42!.The enveloped cigar C held between top guide plate 436 and lifter plate404 is then guided in between the two clamping fingers 398 whichimmediately close and together with lifter plate 404 (Fig, 6), transferthe enveloped ,cigar into the open grippers of the second conveyor chain68L As soon as the enveloped cigar C is placed in the gripper fingers213 and 2H, bell crank lever 699 releases extending end 2|! and fingersH3 and 2 close, due to being suitably biased to closing position, ashereinbefore mentioned. At the same time, clamping fingers 398 openagain and together with lifter plate 404 go downward to their lowermostposition. The enveloped cigar C is then conveyed by chain Gill towardsthe delivery end of the machine.

If it is desired to apply the band B afterthe cigar is enveloped, thebanding mechanism can be attached above the second conveyor chain 681.

The cigar and wrapper sheet are pushed into opened pockets on thewrapper chain while the cigar is lightly but continuously grippedbetween opposite surfaces to prevent displacement of the cigar at thehigh speeds at which the machine The pocket walls close on the cigarbefore the cigar completes its upward movement to pull the wrapper downtightly on the top and corners of/the cigar. The depending edges of thewrapper are then lapped and lock seamed as previously described ,to forma tube projecting at either end beyond the cigar.

The tube ends are then plicated orbellows folded by tuckers followedbyflattening fingers (Figs. 14 to 28) both of which are lightly springpressed to ride down the taper of the cigar to closely lit and iron thefolded wrapping or envelope against the cigar ends of variable shapewithout danger of breaking the cigar. This ironing and flattening has astretching action on the.

lock seam which prevents gapping. Since cellulosic material most usedwith this machine is quite resilient guides 629 and the inner surfaces'of the flatteners and crimpers employed cooperate to continuously holdthe previously made folds till the final crimp is made.

The bellows fold is then crimped totransversely crease it and the endportion beyond the crimp folded back and in order to maintain thisposition of the material a series of sharp crinkles or corrugations of Vcross-section are crimped into the material transversely of the creaseor fold line. This has the effect of locking the folds and the sharpangles'and apparently the stretching of the material at the apexes-iakesthe resilience out of the material where crimped.

The sharp grooves form accordion pleats having a spear. oint formationwhich serves to neatly merge the crimped portion into the chisel shapedpackage end, and to prevent the crlmped point from opening up at thispoint, the spear shaped .points apparently taking the resilience out ofthe material at this location. By the foregoing, the heat sealingcommonly employed is rendered unnecessary. Since heat sealed packages ofthe transparent cellulose materials often open up at the seam and endsunless enough heat is used as to hurt the appearance of the material andendanger the cigar, the methodof closure just described and theresulting package have substantial advantages.

What is claimed is:

1. A "Cellophane wrapped cigar package comprising a cigar and a tube of"Cellophane having its end bent back on a hinge line beyond the end ofthe cigar and crimped with a corrugated crimp extending transverselyacross said hinge line and lengthwise with respect to the cigar, thecorrugations of said crimp being terminated at a region beyond which thereverted end of the tube is crimp-free, and said crimp beingself-retentive exclusively by virtue of adhesivefree folds compressedbeyond the elastic limit of the Cellophane! 2. A package comprising atube of pliable wraping material enclosing an article and having itsends plicated and turned back on the ends of the article, said tubebeing made of somewhat resilient material capable of taking a set whenfolded and compressed beyond its elastic limit, the hinge line formed byturning back the ends having a corrugated crimp to retain the materialin position, said crimp extending transversely of the hinge line andlengthwise of the tube, being self-retentive exclusively by virtue ofits adhesive-free folds compressed beyond the elastic lim- 3. A wrappedcigar package comprising a cigar and a tube of somewhat resilient,pliable material having an elastic limit of the order whichcharacterizes Cellophane," each end of said tube being bent back on ahinge line beyond an end of the cigar and crimped with a corrugatedcrimp, the corrugations of which run across the hinge line andlengthwise with respect to the cigar, all of said corrugations extendingin continuous wave-.form bodily across the breadth of the crimp, andextending through the mean plane of the crimp.

4. The method of wrapping cigars and the like in Cellophane whichcomprises wrapping somewhat resilient C ellophane circumferentiallyabout the cigar to form a tube with the end portions of the tubeextending beyond the end of the cigar, tucking in opposite sidesof thetube of the cigar with a series of sharp crimps having a generallyv-shaped cross-section extending across said hinge line of the fold atthe pro,- jectlng portion of the tube to take the elasticity out of thematerial and close the end of the tube,

said crimp being self retentive exclusively by virtue of adhesive-freefolds compressed beyond the elastic limit of the Cellophane.

. 5. The method of wrapping cigars and the like in Cellophane whichcomprises wrapping a sheet of somewhat resilient Cellophane about thecigar with the end portion of the tube extending beyond the end of thecigar, flattening said projecting portions of the tube to iorm componentplies, reverting the end 01' each of said projecting portions about atransverse hinge line,

and crimping the flattened portions thus associated to form a series ofsharp crimps adjoining each other in continuous waves across the widthoi. said flattened portions, to close the tube. iorming a flat,,tighttube-end, said crimp

